NCJ Number
181008
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 9 Dated: 1999 Pages: 69-87
Date Published
1999
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper recounts some of the experiences of public professionals in a high-crime neighborhood in London (Walford) as their service agencies are attempting to make the transition from a highly centralized service delivery model to a model in which they are required to contribute to the development of "corporate," local, multiagency strategies to reduce violent interracial youth crime.
Abstract
The analysis concludes that in order for the project to progress successfully it will be necessary for senior managers, through contact with the relevant central government departments, to clarify the autonomy that is to be ceded to them. They must also ascertain the respective weighting that they should accord to the old policies incorporated under the new model compared to the new policies that emphasize interagency cooperation and adaptation to local circumstances. Effective cooperation requires reciprocity and interdependence, not insularity. This means that, at the neighborhood level, the relevant services must come together to discuss the interplay of neighborhood destabilization, school destabilization, and youth crime and victimization, as well as the impact of these processes on the capacities and motivation of operational staff in each of these services. This paper presents a case study of the police role in a multiagency effort to address crime in Walford, as well as a case study of the new model's application to a neighborhood school with a high rate of student victimization. 29 references